James: Scarecrow

Track of the Week - 1 November 2020

I'm not into this Halloween business. Probably my age. It was much more about Bonfire Night in my day. More about apple bobbing and less about pressurising people into giving you confectionery.

Having said that, there was a pretty good scarecrow trail around where we live. Organised by one of the local schools there were a few to spot on our daily walk. (We didn't go looking.)

There was an excellent rendition of Jack Skellington, a cardboard Lego workman and other interpretations included drawings taped inside a window.

James' Scarecrow is from their 1986 debut album Stutter. I'd been a fan since seeing them support The Smiths at Chippenham Goldiggers the year before (if not earlier than that, it's a long time ago) and even danced on stage with them at a gig in London (there were loads of us up there, I'm not Bez.)

It's a pretty good example of how the band were moving from their original folk-pop sound into their indie-pop years that brought them their chart success in the late 80s/early 90s.